Primary school must be free
- Claim
- States promised free, compulsory primary education.
- Instrument
- CRC, article 28(1) and 28(1)(a); ICESCR, article 13(2)(a); CESCR General Comment 11, paragraph 6 (the committee's reading).
- Quote
- "Make primary education compulsory and available free to all" (CRC). "Primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all" (ICESCR).
- What it means for you
- A public primary place is owed to you, not sold to you. "Compulsory" cuts both ways: the UN committee that reads the ICESCR says "neither parents, nor guardians, nor the State are entitled to treat as optional" whether a child gets primary school (CESCR General Comment 11, para 6). The state cannot turn you away. One limit sits in the CRC's own sentence, which says states act "with a view to achieving this right progressively" (CRC, art. 28(1)): a state that is not there yet must be moving towards it.
- Where it often fails
- The place is free but uniforms, exam fees, books or the bus are not. Families that cannot pay keep a child home, or send them to work.
- What you can ask for
- Ask the school, in writing, which charges the law requires. Ask how to apply for fee waivers, uniform grants or free meals.
Secondary school must be open
- Claim
- Secondary school must be open to every child, moving towards free.
- Instrument
- CRC, article 28(1)(b); ICESCR, article 13(2)(b).
- Quote
- "make them available and accessible to every child" (CRC). "shall be made generally available and accessible to all" (ICESCR).
- What it means for you
- The right does not end with primary school. Both texts name vocational routes, so a training path is not a lesser education.
- Where it often fails
- Secondary schools are fewer and farther, so distance and the fare decide who continues. A student who must work, or has no papers after being displaced, hears "no place".
- What you can ask for
- Ask which documents enrolment truly requires and whether a declaration can replace a missing one. Ask about transport help, boarding or a nearer school.
School must grow your mind too
- Claim
- Education must develop your whole self, mind included.
- Instrument
- CRC, article 29(1)(a); ICESCR, article 13(1).
- Quote
- "the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential" (CRC). "recognize the right of everyone to education" (ICESCR).
- What it means for you
- A school that only drills you for tests is missing part of its job. Your mind's growth is written into what education is for.
- Where it often fails
- Overcrowded classes and untrained or unpaid teachers leave no room beyond the syllabus. A student struggling inside is called lazy instead of asked what is wrong.
- What you can ask for
- Practical steps, not rights this article grants: ask who at school you can talk to, and whether it stays confidential. Ask for time, or a changed timetable, when you are not coping. Chapter 2, Your mind is part of your health, and chapter 3, Disability and mental health at school, give those asks their legal footing.
Discipline cannot strip your dignity
- Claim
- School discipline must respect your human dignity.
- Instrument
- CRC, article 28(2); CRC General Comment 8, paragraph 11 (the committee's reading).
- Quote
- "school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child's human dignity" (CRC).
- What it means for you
- Rules are allowed; humiliation is not. The UN committee that reads the CRC says "corporal punishment is invariably degrading", and that punishment which "belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules the child" breaks the Convention (CRC General Comment 8, para 11). Being hit or shamed before the class fails that test.
- Where it often fails
- Beating and public shaming are still routine in many classrooms, and students stop coming rather than face them. Chapter 5, Schools without fear, goes deeper.
- What you can ask for
- Ask for the written discipline policy and the complaints route. Ask that any punishment be explained to you and, if you are under 18, to a parent. Sent home over a uniform or your hair? The treaty does not settle appearance rules, so ask for that rule in writing and how the lost lessons will be made up.
The four tests
- Claim
- The UN committee that reads the ICESCR says education has to show four features, often called the 4 As, and "accessible" has three parts.
- Instrument
- CESCR General Comment 13, paragraphs 6 and 6(b).
- Quote
- "functioning educational institutions and programmes have to be available in sufficient quantity" (GC 13, para 6). "education must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable groups" (GC 13, para 6(b)).
- What it means for you
- Available means a real school: roof, toilets, water, trained teachers. Accessible means no one is kept out for who they are, the route is safe and cost is not the barrier; acceptable means good teaching; adaptable means it bends to your needs.
- Where it often fails
- A school exists on paper with no teacher for months or no toilets for girls. Fees, unsafe roads and missing papers each fail one test, yet each is called the family's problem.
- What you can ask for
- Ask how many teachers the school should have and how many it has. Ask which test is stopping you, then what the school can change.